updated 03:10 pm EDT, Fri October 29, 2010

Sony call talks PS phone strategy and tablet

Sony during the call discussing its latest results has strongly hinted that the company is developing a PlayStation phone. Without mentioning the device itself, the company said the hardware would be delivered from the Network Services group that handles both computers and the PlayStation brand. It's also moving Sony Computer Entertainment, the PlayStation division, into the Sony City headquarters to "better incorporate" it with the planning teams for a mystery product.

Ericsson, half of Sony Ericsson, was said to be helping out on both smartphone and game devices.

The company has never officially confirmed a PlayStation phone but has already dropped clues that it wants to add cellular access to the equation established by the PSP. Sony has tried unsuccessfully to position its 2004-era handheld against the iPod, but it has had no answer to the iPhone with gaming a focus only on basic phones. The PlayStation phone is so far known to be a fast Android slider with PSP Go controls in place of a keyboard and its own PlayStation store.

Along with the phone strategy, the company alluded to a tablet being in the works, but it's uncertain whether it would skew more towards Sony Ericsson or fit more into the VAIO line. One possibility is a dual-screen tablet that would borrow cues from Microsoft Courier or the Toshiba Libretto W100.

Publicly, Sony has been cautious about tablets and said it hadn't started to look more seriously until the iPad arrived and began establishing a market. [viaEngadget]